Posts under ‘Sharing Housing Basics’

Action News in Las Vegas did a short piece on a senior considering renting a room in her house to manage her difficult finances.  It describes Rita, who after her husband died lost his pension and veteran’s benefits (reducing her income by 70%) and can no longer afford her home. She really wants to stay [...]

I recently posted about Housemate’s Companion, an out-of-the-box app for Windows users who simply use computers.
For those who program in Python, Bluechips offers a package designed for “small groups of people who share expenses.” I don’t know how good it is. But really how bad can it be when the developer(s) use the Stooges for [...]

There are programs that take on responsibility for matching householders with home seekers. In general these programs are non profit social service programs focusing on people in need for reasons of age, disability or low-income.
The National Shared Housing Resource Center provides a directory of programs in states, updated in March of 2009. A casual count [...]

Confused by the bills you need to track in your shared home? Tired of using an spreadsheet and working out the formulas? Housemate’s Companion by Slamdunk Software comes to your rescue.  It’s brand new and looks exactly like the basic tool that everyone needs. It not only offers easy management of the bills, it sends [...]

Every home needs to be cleaned.  When people share housing the question arises about how the common areas that everyone uses are cleaned.  Here are three methods that work.
Hire a Pro
If you can afford it, the easiest, best way to get the house cleaned is to have someone else do it. Seriously – once every [...]

Has your house become too expensive for you? If so, you are hardly alone. According to RealtyTrak, in 2010 between 3 million and 3.5 million foreclosure warnings will be issued. This is up from 2009’s record of 2.8 million. (USA Today, Feb. 11 2010) That’s a lot of houses, that’s a lot of unhappy people.
If [...]

At a conference in the summer of 2009, home sharing was declared “An idea whose time has come”. But this is not a new idea. It is an old, old way of living. History is full of examples of individuals sharing housing. Farm helpers lived on the farm. Teachers and preachers boarded with families. Servants [...]

It’s been awhile since I wrote on this blog. I’ve been hard at work on the book of the same name as this blog. Draft 1 is complete. I can focus once again on writing for the blog.
The book offers a step by step guide on how to go about finding and selecting housemates – [...]

While Craigslist simply offers the ability to post, there are internet services that offer matching services. For a (in general) small fee you can get an account and are prompted through questions that create your profile. Since everyone has a profile, it is possible to search for housemates that match your criteria. You can also [...]

“She seemed nice enough.”  “He was well-spoken and gentle.” “We were friends and both needed a place to live.” These are real quotes from people who ended up being unhappy about their shared housing arrangements. What do they have in common?  Lazy interviewing.  All three neglected to really consider the interview and what they needed [...]